Long after the waves of reporters had finally stopped asking him questions, Boston Scott put on his backpack and began to walk out of the Eagles locker room.
One more thing to do.
Before he made his way to the door, he stopped and gave Greg Ward a giant hug.
See, the two of them had been waiting for this moment for a long time. Scott and Ward are close. They even live in the same apartment complex and often carpool to the NovaCare Complex.
“We always talk about our opportunity coming and making the most of it,” Scott said. “I would say I was down a lot more than he was. His mindset is just contagious. Just the way he approaches every single day, I have a lot of respect for him. Seeing him be successful, man, I love seeing that. That’s my guy.”
Both came up huge on Monday night in the Eagles’ 23-17 overtime win over the Giants.
Including tight end Josh Perkins, the Eagles got big contributions from three former practice squad players on Monday night. Scott, Ward and Perkins combined for 199 yards from scrimmage. The Giants finished with just 255.
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And two months ago, none of the three were on the Eagles’ active roster.
Scott was called up on Oct. 11, Ward on Nov. 23 and Perkins on Nov. 30.
“It really means a lot,” Ward said. “Because me, Boston and Perk, we always talk, especially about these moments. I don’t know, man, it’s just a whole different feeling with us three. We’ve been talking about this for a long time. We’re just very blessed and thankful.”
Scott, 24, deserved his shine after his performance on Monday. He had 59 rushing yards on 10 attempts and added 69 receiving yards on six catches. He had some juice.
Ward, 24, had four catches for 34 yards.
And Perkins, 26, had five catches for 37 yards. Perkins had a big 13-yard catch during the overtime drive. Perkins had to line up all over the field too. After the Eagles were down a receiver early, Perkins lined up outside, in the slot and in-line.
Perkins said a game like that can do wonders for his confidence.
“It does a lot,” he said. “Being on the practice squad at the beginning of the year kind of hurt me. I was in a bad place in the beginning. I had to get myself out of it and continue to work.”
Being on the practice squad can be a tough role. You’re a part of the team but you’re not. You practice but you can’t play. You get paid but nearly as much.
Being on the practice squad is all about waiting. And it can be tough to be patient.
“I know the nature of the NFL,” Scott said. ”You never know when your opportunity might come, so why worry about you not getting it right now? You’re in a bad mood and you’re negative and your opportunity comes and you mess it up.”
That didn’t happen on Monday night. Scott got his opportunity and he seized it. Heck, so did Ward and Perkins. And the Eagles got a big win because of it.
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